Link
by PSI-Triforce
Summary: Link is the savior of Outset Island, Holder of the Triforce of Courage, Wielder of the Master Sword, Hero of Winds, and Hero of Time. So how come when he enters Super Smash Bros, everyone's calling him 'Toon Link' and treating him like a child? Oneshot.


I'm Link. Not 'Toon Link', or 'Wind Waker Link' or anything else people call me. I'm Link, the Hero of Time, the legendary swordsman, the hero of winds, holder of the triforce of courage, and wielder of the master sword.

So how come everyone is treating me like a kid?

I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess I should start at the beginning.

Ok, so it was about a week before I came to Smash Mansion when I got the invitation. You wouldn't believe how happy I was, and everyone was so proud of me. Aryll and Grandma couldn't believe the news, and before I left, they were so supportive. Hell, everyone on Outset Island was supportive! I was a little nervous because, as a 12 year old, I was one of the youngest Smashers there, but everyone was reassuring, they all kept telling me how I was the hero of time, and if anyone deserved to be at the tournament, it was me. I knew they were exaggerating a little, but I didn't really mind. It was nice to hear, even though I knew it wasn't true.

The one thing I was curious about was the invitation itself. It didn't call me Link, but it called me Toon Link instead. No one on the island knew why, but nobody really cared, including me. I was just so excited that I would be fighting other famous heroes, like Mario and Kirby. I just hoped somebody would recognise me, cause if things went well, I'd be staying there a while.

When I arrived, everything started looking down. I hugged Aryll and Grandma goodbye and stepped into the portal that had been set up on the beach. The last thing I saw was Tetra and her crew all giving me thumbs-up from their ship. The first thing I saw when I came out the other end was a fat man who looked a bit like Mario, glaring at me as if it had cost him an afternoon of eating to come to my arrival. I later found out that it had, but it was still a scary sight to behold. As I looked around the hall I had arrived in, I saw lots of familiar faces, and even more new ones. Famous characters, like Sonic, Mario, and Bowser were all there, and there was enough a guy who dressed like me, except taller and with a more human-shaped body. There were other people who looked friendly enough, from the strange penguin with a hammer to the boy with black hair and a red hat who was playing with his yoyo, but before I could say anything, this giant glove thing said,

"Smashers, please welcome Toon Link."

There it was again. My name was Link, not Toon Link. I assumed there had been a mistake, but the fat Mario look-a-like spoke before I had the chance.

"Can we go now?"

The giant glove dismissed them all, and they started to walk away. For a second, it looked like the glove was going to give me a speech, but instead it just said, "Your room is the second one on the third floor, and the matches will be posted tomorrow back here in the hall," before floating away. Feeling lonely, I decided to chase the guy who looked like me. Unfortunately, my legs were shorter and slower than his, so I had to go run after him round a few corners, but eventually, he sat down with a few other people and I bounded up to him. His friends saw me and invited me to sit down, so I did, eager to make some new friends.

If I could have picked my choices again, I wouldn't have put on my biggest grin and just said, "Hi!" which made me look even more like a child, but luckily, no one seemed to mind. One woman, who looked like the same race as the guy dressed like me, decided to introduce everyone.

"Toon Link, this is Pit from Angel Land, Princess Peach from the Mushroom Kingdom, and," My excitement grew as she pointed to the man similar to me, despite how she called me 'Toon Link' again, "This is Link, the Hero of Time. I am Zelda. It's nice to meet you."

At first, I thought it was some sort of joke, and I tried to laugh it off. "No, I'm Link the Hero of Time! Whose he?"

There was an awkward pause between the people seated, but eventually, Zelda spoke up again.

"Toon Link, there have been many different Links, from different timelines and lands. I understand you are from a group of islands. What's life like there?"

I was dumbstruck. I had never considered the idea that there was another Link out there. And even though I would come to despise that fact, at that moment I could only think of how cool it would be.

"You mean we're both Link? That's awesome! I can't believe this! There's two of me!"

The others didn't seem so excited, and just asked me questions about my home life. It was pretty cool, even though the other Link didn't say much. I began to wonder how people would call us, when I thought of something.

"Wait… if there are two of us… how come I have a different name here?"

The others squirmed awkwardly again. I didn't realise they were avoiding telling me something, so I asked again.

"Why do I have to be 'Toon Link' instead of Link? I don't even know what a Toon is…"

Princess Peach finally broke the silence and gave me an answer.

"Toon Link, this Link next to me arrived first, so he gets to keep the name Link, ok?"

I couldn't see anything particularly wrong with that, so I didn't really mind being called Toon Link. In fact, the whole matter faded until some time after my first fight the next day.

My first fight was against some guy named Ike. As it was my first battle, they explained to me what would be happening, with damage, arenas, and items. Even the glove thing (who, for the first time, actually told me his name was Master Hand) said he was putting me in a simple arena with no items this time so I could concentrate on fighting. The only thing that bugged me was the tone that he used. I know he wasn't meaning to be insulting, but it's a little embarrassing being spoken to like a six year old. Pushing these distractions out of my head, I began to get ready for the fight. When me and Ike appeared, he didn't seem to be concentrating on the fight much though. He landed a few blows on me, but he didn't take many chances, and most of the time just stood there, waiting to be attacked by me. I was so excited that it was my first fight that I didn't pay much attention to this, and just concentrated on knocking him off, which happened pretty quickly. Appearing back in the hall, I did a small jump for joy to celebrate my first victory, while Ike just walked into the viewing chambers, where the others had been viewing our fight.

I wanted to step in after him to see if anyone congratulated me, but when I opened the door slightly I heard talking, and my curiosity got the better of me as I listened to what they were saying about me.

"-he says it's a good idea to let the newcomers win, but that was just over the top. Did you see how slow he was?"

"Give him a break, it's his first day."

"Shut up Zelda, you're just saying that cause you're no longer the weakest holder of the triforce."

"Not while you're still here, Ganondorf."

"Oh come on, I could beat that shrimp with both my hands tied behind my back."

"Maybe this is some joke Master Hand is playing on us. Remember last year, when he told us he was inviting a Magikarp?"

"Give the kid a break! It was his first fight ever!"

"So? On my first fight ever, I wasn't as weak and stupid as he is."

"I thought Young Link was bad, Toon Link just takes it to a whole new level…"

"I don't know how you handle it having your name shamed like this Link…"

"He must be stupid as well as a bad fighter. I heard he didn't get the message earlier when Zelda was spilling the beans about how he's not the only Link."

"Doesn't he realise why the Zelda and Ganondorf from his world aren't here yet?"

"He's just another weak, worthless clone. End of story."

That was the end of their conversation, except for a second later, when Peach screamed when she saw me hiding in the doorway. Nobody had much time to react though, as I felt the tears fall from my eyes and I turned and ran. I didn't care where in the mansion I ended up, I just wanted to be alone.

'Great,' I thought, 'Now they're going to think I'm a cry-baby too…'

I gave up running after a few minutes, when I could tell there was no one else around, and I slunk into a corner of the hall and cried. I knew it was childish, but I just couldn't help it. Everyone thought I was powerless, and I realised now why they had insisted on calling me Toon Link.

I was a copy. A cheap, weaker clone of somebody else. This was the worst day of my life. I wished I'd never been invited to this stupid tournament. Hearing a noise, I feared that someone had found me, but instead it was just some of the children who hadn't been viewing the fight, and had no idea why I was upset. Their leader, Ness, stepped forwards, ahead of Lucas and the Ice Climbers, who I'd been introduced too that morning.

"What's wrong Toon Link?" Ness asked, meaning well, but striking a nerve.

"Don't call me Toon Link! I hate that name!"

Ness misunderstood, saying "Suit yourself, Toony. What's wrong?"

"DON'T! I never want to be called Toon Link ever again!"

"Ok, calm down! Now tell me, what's wrong?"

Unfortunately, Zelda had heard my little outburst, and she was one of the few people who had actually been defending me in the discussion, along with Link, and now she had been searching for me with Link and Pit. When she heard my voice, she turned to corner towards me before looking back and saying, "He's over here!"

As Zelda approached, she saw that I had been crying and took pity on me.

"Toon Link, you don't have to cry, we-"

I interrupted her with an angry scream that looking back, must have sounded to others like a tantrum.

"I AM NOT TOON LINK! MY NAME IS LINK! LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK!!"

Zelda didn't seem to get the message.

"Toon Link, please, I'm only trying to help!"

"TOON LINK IS NOT MY NAME!!"

"I… we only have to call you that to tell you apart from the other Link. Please, calm down!"

By now, Pit and Link had arrived behind Zelda, but they were just watching me warily.

"THAT'S A LIE! IF YOU HAD TO TELL US APART, YOU COULD CALL HIM TOON LINK! WHY ME?"

Zelda was stuttering and couldn't answer, so I answered for her.

"I KNOW WHY! IT'S BECAUSE I'M THE CLONE! I'M THE CHEAP COPY OF LINK WHO ONLY GOT INVITED FOR A JOKE! HE'S THE REAL LINK, I'M JUST SOME KID WITH THE SAME NAME!"

Zelda was still struggling for an answer, and looking back, I feel sorry for her. I don't think there was anything she could say to calm me down, but she didn't have to, because Ness spoke up.

"You don't have to make a big deal though, it's just a name."

I snapped. Pulling my sword out, I lunged at Ness screaming, "IT'S NOT A STUPID NAME, IT'S MY NAME!"

Before I could even do anything, Zelda had ran forwards and pulled me back.

"Please stop! Calm down, Toon Link."

I knew she didn't mean to call me Toon Link again, but she did, and I was so angry right then that I didn't know what I was doing. Wriggling out of Zelda's grip, I pushed her away from me as hard as I could. I didn't realise that it would hurt her until she tripped. With a scream, she fell backwards, her head slamming against a wall. She wasn't knocked out, but when she landed, she burst into noisy tears and Link, the other Link, immediately ran forwards to comfort her. When I turned back around, Pit looked at me like I was insane, and Ness had his mouth open at my act of violence. I didn't know what to do, so I ran. Remembering what Master Hand had told me, I ran up three flights of stairs before finding my room. Slamming the door shut, and locking it quickly, I collapsed onto my bed and cried into the pillow. Most of the Smashers thought I was weak, and the only ones who had ever liked me thought I was mental.

Pulling out something uncomfortable that I had collapsed on revealed the stupid letter to me that had started this all. Holding it tightly, I was about to shred it into pieces before my eyes caught sight of a small section near the bottom.

_If you wish to leave the tournament at any time, simply talk to Master Hand and arrange a portal back._

Reading these words over and over again, I slowly left my room and made my way to Master Hand's office, carefully avoiding every Smasher along the way.

With a suitcase in each hand, I walked towards the hall. The arrangement with Master Hand had been quick, and when midnight struck, I had made my way down to leave the tournament. I honestly saw no reason to stay. Just as I approached the portal however, I heard a voice.

"Leaving so soon?"

Turning, I saw both my enemy, and one of my first friends. Link walked towards me, except he looked different. He didn't look like a name-stealing, angry and insulting person. He looked like he just wanted to talk. He even seemed to have forgotten that a few hours ago, I'd pushed his girlfriend against a wall and made her cry. I opened my mouth to speak, but he shook his head before I could say anything.

"Don't say a word, Ness already told me what you'd been angry at. I'm sorry that we didn't realise you took offense at your new name. I truly apologise, and Zelda does too."

I turned red and looked at the floor, guilty for how I had treated these people. Link ignored this and sat down next to me. Even sitting down, he was still as tall as me standing up.

"I know that some people will think you're a copy, but there's only one person who can change that, and it's you."

I looked up at Link, but instead of seeing a hero, I saw all I'd ever seen. A friend.

"Everyone called me weak and worthless, and Ike even let me win my first match. Why should I bother staying?"

Link did a strange thing then. He smiled at me, as if I had just either told him a joke, or said the stupidest thing in the world.

"Do you know what it was like for me when I first arrived at this tournament?" I shook my head.

"Nobody else had heard of me. Sure, the name 'Link' is pretty famous in Hyrule, but in here, it was worthless. Nobody really knew who I was, and there was only one way to change that. I trained hard, and I fought harder. I won a lot of battles, and gained a reputation. It wasn't too hard, because I was gifted with many things. I have a wide arsenal of weapons, the master sword itself, and even the triforce of courage. Just like you."

Link ruffled my hair, and although it made me feel like a child, it didn't make me feel bad.

"The only person who can ever stop you from winning is yourself. If people say you're weak, so what? Prove them wrong! It's not about what they think, it's about what you think, and before you came to this tournament, you thought you were pretty good, didn't you."

I gulped and nodded, hanging on his every word.

"Well there you have it. Today was your very first match ever. In time, you'll get used to it, and you'll get used to all the items and arenas too."

Link stood up again, and put out his hand to walk me back to the hall.

"If you want, Zelda and Ness are still up, and I'm pretty sure you want to say something to them before you go upstairs and unpack again, right?"

I nodded again, smiling for the first time in hours.

"Come on then, Link, let's go," Said Link with a smile on his face.

"Please," I whispered, "Call me Toon Link."

The End


End file.
